Jacinda Ardern calls it the "COVID election", but the Electoral Commission is preparing for the worst-case scenario - a COVID-19 outbreak during the election.
Dr Ashley Bloomfield warns it's a matter of when, not if, New Zealand is struck by another outbreak of COVID-19 in the community.
It's now been over 100 days since the last case of the virus was acquired locally from an unknown source, but with the September 19 election day fast approaching officials are taking no chances.
Newshub spoke to the Electoral Commission about their plans in case the pandemic strikes during the voting period.
What's the current plan?
New Zealand currently sits at alert level 1, which means everyone can return to work and you can get together with as many people as you want.
But a spokesperson told Newshub that, for all intents and purposes, "we will be running the election as though we were at alert level 2".
People will be able to vote from September 5, two weeks before the election date, to prevent congestion. The number of places open for advance voting will be increased and larger venues will be used to spread out the number of people voting.
"We will have more voting places, bigger venues, two extra days for voting and longer voting times to minimise crowding or queues," the spokesperson told Newshub.
"And we expect the proportion of votes cast early to be even higher than the 47 per cent at the last general election (advance voting helping increase election day physical distancing)."
There are also several other steps the Commission will put in place:
- We will have physical distancing measures in place;
- We will encourage the use of hand sanitisers as people arrive at and leave voting places;
- We will encourage people to bring their own pens to mark voting papers but will have brand-new pens for a one-off use if they don’t;
- We will have more staff in place to manage the flow of voters;
- We will have voluntary contact tracing;
- And we will have personal protective equipment ready at each voting place for staff should it be necessary.
What if New Zealand went up to alert level 2?
"The only things that would change if an alert level 2 were in place are that voluntary contact tracing would become compulsory and staff at voting places would put on their personal protective equipment," the Electoral Commission says.
"Procedures for collecting votes from people in managed isolation or quarantine, or in hospitals, rest homes and prisons would not change if an alert level 2 (or higher) were declared."
Planning for alert levels 3 and 4
Under alert level 3 there is a "high risk" the disease is not contained and community transmission might be happening. Under level 4 it is "likely" the disease is spreading, community transmission is occurring and there are widespread outbreaks and new clusters.
The Electoral Commission has developed "general contingency plans" for both scenarios - although it cautions there are "many potential variables" that could affect how it will respond.
"We can deliver voting services to clusters of up to 500 voters to a maximum of 5000 voters nationwide using takeaway voting," it says.
"This would involve delivering and picking up voting papers to those within the clusters. Who would deliver and pick up the papers would depend on the circumstances, but would probably involve Electoral Commission staff."
What would happen if there was a larger outbreak?
Up until August 16, Ardern can choose to delay the election until November if alert levels change significantly and affect election preparations.
After this, the Electoral Commission says it would need to assess how many people were affected and whether it could provide voting services to them another way.
If the outbreak is bad enough, the Chief Electoral Officer has the emergency power to delay election day voting for up to seven days at a time.
"Before doing this, she would need to consult with the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition and other people or organisations with relevant information," a spokesperson told Newshub.
